


The Colors of Her Bracelets

by staristired



Series: Hobbies that Make Your Heart Beat [2]
Category: Andi Mack (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Gay Panic, I mean it's me, Maybe - Freeform, Slow Burn, ill edit tags later, side Tyrus, t for language, you don't have to read TJP to understand
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-30
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2019-12-26 14:07:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18283832
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/staristired/pseuds/staristired
Summary: Now a senior in high school, it's been years since Amber's crush on Andi developed and then faded. But when a little game of Never Have I Ever leaves Andi confused and Amber smirking, the beads break out and the rainbow on Amber's wrist grows.As things start unraveling, Amber and Andi have to figure out  things together as Amber starts applying for colleges, and Andi and her friends start planning out their future.There's only one question for their futures: "Do you want to have me in it?"





	1. L

_ I doubt that you need to read TJ’s Playlist to understand this story. All you need to know is that Macaroni is their fat cat and there’s Kippen siblings. _

_ A few years after TJ’s Playlist. Amber is a senior (year 12) ; everyone else is a junior (year 11).  _

Amber stared down at her new planner, the empty calendar squares waiting to be filled up. Holding down one side of the planner with her bracelet covered wrist, she reached over for a gel pen with her other arm.

**Andi's birthday <3**

She wrote down the most important event of September in pink before going on and writing in the first day of school and a few other events.

"Hey, sis," TJ knocked on her door, already walking in.

"Come in," Amber let out a yawn, turning over to look at her brother, the old orange cat under his arm. "How is the baby doing?"

"Cyrus is great, thanks for asking," TJ grinned, immediately getting an eye roll from Amber.

"Not your baby, this baby," Amber said, reaching out for Macaroni. He had just gone to the vet with TJ and their mom. TJ handed over the cat before going over to sit on his sister's bed.

"He's fine. Just old," TJ told her, laying back. "Do you think he can beat the record for world's oldest cat?"

Macaroni licked Amber’s cheek, making her smile, "What's the current record?"

"Crème Puff the cat lived for 38 years and 3 days."

"If he keeps eating the way he does, there's no way he's going to live past 15," Amber laughed, scratching him behind the ears. Macaroni purred, content to be in his favorite person's arm.

“Are you going to take him with you to college?” TJ asked her, Amber looking up to look at him as if he asked her to snap his neck.

“Why would I do that? You’d cry,” Amber told him, smirking slightly.

“Macaroni would miss you,” TJ shrugged, Macaroni letting out a small mew. “See.”

“He’s telling you to shut up,” Amber smiled, causing TJ to roll his eyes, the smallest of grins in the corner of his mouth. “But seriously, if I get to go to Michigan, then Macaroni can’t come with me.”

“What if you go to MSU?” TJ asked. Midwest State University was only two hours away compared to the four or more of any other college. TJ had always been in love with it, and Amber wouldn’t mind going there herself.

“You’re just going to follow me there, so maybe,” Amber smiled.

“Hey,” TJ defended himself, “I’ve been wanting to go there for the longest time ever.”

“I know, little brother,” she giggled, “but maybe. You can keep him here for the first year I’m gone, and if you go to MSU, we’ll see what happens.”

“You think ma and dad would miss him?” TJ asked her.

“They’ve been wanting a dog for a while, so probably not,” Amber shrugged. “Dad really wants to go all the way to California to get an Afghan Hound, but they wouldn’t do that until we’re both out the house.”

“They’re still pretty young. They’re gonna have fun.”

“Perks of getting married young,” Amber told him and winked, “and mistake babies.”

TJ ignored the mistake baby part and retreated to something else, “Speaking of getting married young-“

“You’re not getting married the second you turn 18,” Amber yelled it out.

“Not that,” TJ blushed, “I was just going to say that your friend Kip got married last weekend.”

“Oh yeah,” Amber said, before Macaroni jumped off her lap and went to play with the door stopper, “he’s in the military.”

 TJ bit his lip for a moment before saying, “Also, the most Cyrus and I will do right now is move in together.”

Amber gasped, feeling a few cat hairs that were on her sweater get stuck on her tongue. “What?” she struggled to get the word out.

“If we both go to MSU, we want to live together,” TJ said, rolling up the sleeves on his arms. “I mean, that’s the plan for now. We don’t start applying to schools until next year and acceptances months after, so a lot can change by then. Besides that, I think Cyrus is probably going to get into an Ivy League. He’s really smart.”

“That’s good to know,,” Amber said, tapping her fingers on her desk. “You guys would just be… so little.”

“Ma and Dad made it work,” TJ reminded her. “I’m sure Cyrus and I will, too.”

“Just don’t worry about college right now, I guess,” Amber advised him. “If you get in for basketbal- “

“I don’t think I’ll get in with- “

“If!” Amber interrupted him back, “If you get in for basketball, you’re going to have to make that work along with school and living with Cyrus.”

“You just said not to worry about college,” TJ grumbled, his arms crossed in frustration. He looked down and notice Macaroni biting at his pant leg and gently tried to shrug him off.

“I’m just saying,” Amber told him, walking up to pick up the cat again. “It’s going to be hard going to college in a relationship.”

TJ frowned, “Are you suggesting we break up?”

“Of course not, after all you guys went through to get together,” Amber huffed, Macaroni cuddling into her neck, “I’m just saying to start buckling up for the ride.”

“Is this why you never wanted to date Iris?” TJ raised an eyebrow.

Amber’s cheeks flushing with pink, embarrassed with the sudden topic, “That’s a different story, but yeah, partially that, too.”

-

Amber walked into the building, her last first day of school at Grant High School. As much as she hated the constant lingering smell of poorly cooked pizza in the nearby cafeteria, she knew she was going to miss it along with its fading tiles and falling posters. Masking tape is meant to come off, people!

Behind her were Cyrus and TJ who had tagged along on her first drive to school. She wanted to pull over and kick TJ to the curb a few times, but she resisted in order to keep her nerves down. She still couldn’t understand how Cyrus fell for a bitter boy like TJ, but she was glad Cyrus was part of their family.

Amber looked at her watch and noticed they still had fifteen minutes. She turned to the boys who were chattering away and asked, “You guys know where your classes are.”

“Of course, sis,” TJ laughed, amused, “we’re not freshmen.”

“Just making sure,” Amber smiled.

“Andi and Buffy are here already,” Cyrus told them as he checked his phone, “they said they’d be in the quad. Remember, Buffy and Marty broke up over the summer so don’t even mention him.”

“My pleasure,” Amber smirked, “I never liked him that much.”

“You saw him like five times,” TJ said as they walked through the hall, reaching out to hold Cyrus’ hand.

“Yeah, but he made Buffy sad, and I don’t like that very much,” Amber said to him.

“Fair enough,” TJ told her as they passed through crowds of familiar faces.

“You can tell who the freshmen are,” Cyrus said, “they all look so small.”

“You still look like a freshman, Goodman,” Amber teased him, “I wouldn’t say much to them.”

“Ouch,” Cyrus grinned, clutching his chest with his free hand for added affect. “I know I’ve been the same height since I was 14, but what can I do about it?”

“Nothing. You’re perfect the way you are,” TJ told him, pulling him in closer. TJ was an entire five inches taller than Cyrus, and they were all positive that he was going to get taller. Cyrus didn’t mind the height difference, but when you were friends with spitfires like Amber and Buffy, the teasing was endless.

Amber let out a fake gag, increasing her walking speed, “Gross. Be cute somewhere else, please.” She walked out a double door and into the quad that was in the center of the school. The trio found Buffy, Andi, and Jonah sitting at the school’s fountain. It wasn’t functioning and hadn’t been for a few months, but it was still fun to hang at and pick a penny here and there.

“Hey, guys,” Jonah waved at them, happy as ever.

“I saw you guys like three days ago,” Amber noted as she sat on the ledge of the fountain next to Andi. Smothering her was her favorite thing to this day. “Why am I never with kids my own age?”

“We’re still the same age,” TJ tried telling her.

“You are still a baby,” Amber told him mockingly, making her brother roll her eyes. “Anyways, I need to go find my other friends,” Amber said, quickly standing up and dusting off her jeans.

“You’re leaving us already,” Andi frowned, giving Amber puppy eyes. Amber hated them because it made her feel soft for the girl that has molded her into cotton candy over the last few years. She didn’t have the overbearing crush on her anymore (though it made it’s rounds every other month), but she’d still jump at the chance to do anything for Andi.

Amber tapped Andi’s nose and smiled softly, “Yeah, sorry. I’ll catch you kids Friday when we hangout.”

 -

The Kippen’s house became the hangout spot for the whole group when they reached high school, so it wasn’t uncommon for Amber to always end up seeing them. After quitting her job at The Spoon to take AP courses Junior year, she had more time to spend with TJ and his friends. More specifically: Andi.

TJ always told her it was a terrible idea and that instead of getting over her, she was just going to burry herself deeper into pitfall seed of a crush on her. But persistent on proving her brother wrong, Amber got over Andi before she even reached their sophomore year.

For the most part. There would be times where Amber wanted to see Andi as more of a friend, but she always denied herself the privilege of even daydreaming about it. It always hurt to stretch her skin back to reality.

“Do you want to put Macaroni outside?” TJ asked Amber as the cat sat in between her and Andi, disrupting their game of Never Have I Ever. He had gotten into the habit of licking people, and if he liked it, he’d bite them. He’d mostly bite TJ and Jonah, but everyone that has gone through the Kippen living room, had gotten bitten at least once.

“No, leave him,” Andi said, scooping him up into her lap, “he’s great company.” Macaroni purred as he snuggled up to Andi.

“I don’t think he’s been outside in like five days,” Amber leaned back into the couch, tilting her head away from Andi to watch the cat carefully. From the corner of her eye, she could see that TJ was smirking. The cat always seemed to sneak into their crushes’ hearts before they would be able to.

“That sounds like a Macaroni problem,” TJ shrugged and lifted up his hand again, “anyways, never have I ever… smoked.”

“Really?” Amber raised a brow.

“Why are you so shocked,” TJ laughed. “I stopped being friends with Reed years ago if not, who knows.”

“I guess,” Amber told him. Nobody’s fingers went down for that one once again. Amber didn’t like playing Never Have I Ever with them because they were a bunch of good kids, but if she had a chance to snuggle next to Andi, she was going to take it.

“Be right back,” Jonah told him, standing up to go to the restroom.

“Don’t get lost,” Andi called out.

“I’ll try,” Jonah joked back. The Kippen house decoration was still goth, and it wasn’t hard to notice this it creeped him out slightly. Jonah accidentally broke one of the mirrors a few months ago and Buffy joked that the Kippen’s didn’t use it either way, going back to their _The Kippen’s are vampires!_ joke.

Buffy looked next to her where Cyrus and TJ were snuggling and pointed out, “Cyrus, you still have all five.”

“Hey,” Cyrus smiled proudly, “it’s not my fault I manage to live a happy life without risking my life. I always win.”

“Interesting,” Buffy smirked and said, “never have I ever had a crush on someone in this room.”

Cyrus let out an exaggerated gasp, “You’re attacking me on purpose.”

“Maybe so,” Buffy reached over and folded his finger down for him, grinning the whole time. Amber sighed and put down her fourth finger, catching Andi’s attention.

“You’re about to lose,” Andi smiled sympathetically, petting Macaroni with her free hand.

“I know,” Amber sighed, a small smile on the side of her lips, “I always lose.”

“Technically,” Andi whispered as Cyrus and Buffy bickered over them, “Jonah isn’t in the room, so you don’t have to put your finger down. I didn’t.”

Amber smirked, “I know.”

 


	2. Pink

TJ shut the door on Cyrus’ back who was the last one to leave. TJ turned around to Amber who was right in his face, grinning.

“Personal space? Ever heard of it?” TJ backed up all the way to the door.

Amber rolled her eyes, “Please. You’re the king of invading personal space. I don’t know how you and Cyrus don’t trip over each other’s feet when you guys walk next to each other.”

TJ smiled a little before nodding his head up and asked, “What’s up?”

“I planted some seeds.”

“Seeds?” TJ raised an eyebrow. Amber nodded and had a tight lipped smile on her face. “Are you growing something?”

“Yes, weed,” Amber said, TJ’s eyes growing wide. Amber lightly smacked him on the chest, “I’m kidding, dufus. I’m just trying to tell you that Andi might figure out that I had a crush on her before.” TJ’s eyes were definitely wide open now as his jaw dropped.

“Amber!” he whisper-yelled. “Why would you do that?”

“Why not?” Amber shrugged. TJ looked at his sister as if she had asked the dumbest question he had ever heard.

“It’s the beginning of the school year, her birthday is coming out, and you’re over here trying to create chaos. Amber, don’t you have schools to apply to?” TJ shifted from side to side as he explained himself, waving his hands around. He had become a lot more openly emotional as they years went by, and Amber didn’t know if she hated it or not.

“Why are you so worried?” Amber laughed. “Nothing bad is going to happen.”

“Okay,” TJ held his hands up in defense, “but when Andi goes through gay panic again it’s your fault,” TJ sighed. Amber’s smile fell from her lips, and she studied her brother who was scanning her face. Then he gasped, “Oh man, oh man,” he started looking side to side and dancing on his feet, “you can’t say anything.”

“I heard you right, right?” Amber stared at him, her brows furrowed.

“No?” TJ winced.

“Andi has thought she was gay before, and you never told me?”

“Okay, okay,” TJ sighed, “I didn’t tell you because I guess that basically counts as outing someone. I’m not a jerk.”

“When did this happen?”

“Last year,” TJ looked down at the floor, avoiding Amber’s blue gaze. He started rubbing a stain on the floor with his shoes, waiting for Amber to respond.

“Wait a second,” Amber scoffed, “she told you?”

“She told me and Cyrus,” TJ looked up at her with a frown. “She said she thought she was getting a crush on this girl in her math cla-,” Amber interrupted.

“Who?”

“I forgot her name,” TJ shrugged.

“You never told me?” Amber frowned, bringing up the fact again. Her chest hurt, but she knew it wasn’t her brother’s fault.

“I don’t exactly feel good talking to you about it right now even if it was a long time ago, and plus, she never brought it up again.”

“You guys didn’t follow up with her about it?”

“We didn’t want her to feel pressured or scared, so we gave her space. Andi works best when given space.”

“Wow,” Amber whispered. “I wish she would’ve told me, honestly.”

“She was freaking out really bad,” TJ explained, leaning against the door. He watched Amber’s frown carefully, as if it would eat her lips up completely. “She literally went on about twenty minutes about how she felt about that girl and how she feels about the idea of being gay. I didn’t know how to comfort her.”

“Did she not trust me?”

“She loves you, Amber,” TJ shook his head. “She probably just didn’t want to tell you until she figured herself out. You know?”

“I guess you’re right,” Amber looked down at the same stain on the floor. “That’s Macaroni’s old vomit.”  
-

“Girls day today?” Andi asked Amber and Buffy as they went to their lunch table. It had become a habit to have a day to themselves every two weeks or so where they just hung out together and talked about things ranging from boys to betting when TJ and Cyrus would get married. Amber was the only one that hoped they’d wait until after college, but Andi and Buffy would laugh and place their bets on right out of high school and sometime during a college meltdown.

“I can’t, actually,” Buffy pursed her lips. “Basketball tryouts.”

“You have to try out for the team again?” Amber asked her, looking at her with an eyebrow raised.

“You ask me this question every year, but yes, I do,” Buffy smirked, beaming in her varsity hoodie from the year before. Andi looked over hopefully at Amber who gave her a smile.

“Yeah, I have time,” Amber told her. “You just have to help my draft out my pottery project for this month.”

“Done deal,” Andi grinned. “We can walk to Andi Shack after school.”

“Meet you at the fountain?”

“See you there!”

* * *

 

“Wow,” Amber said as she walked into Andi Shack. “I haven’t been here in a while.”

“What, maybe a month?” Andi laughed as they sat down on the little chairs. Andi reached for the nail polished in a drawer and handed one over to Amber, continuously raising her eyebrows.

Amber let out a chuckle and asked, “Matching nails?”

“I just wanted you to paint mine, but if you want to match, I won’t get mad,” Andi gave her a smile that made her heart flutter.

“I know you want to match nails,” Amber smiled, shaking the nail polish before opening it. Andi put out her hand, Amber gently getting ahold of it as she did light strokes of the glittery pink.

“I think I have a bracelet that I made that’s the same color as this nail polish,” Andi said, “I’ll find it and give it to you.”

“You don’t have to give it to me,” Amber said softly, focusing on the hand she was holding.

“I made it for you,” Andi admitting, making Amber hate herself for immediately breaking out in a huge grin. She feared that she looked like a clown.

“I’ll take it in that case,” Amber before blowing gently on Andi’s nails. She looked around the small place in the time being and found herself saying, “I spent the best summers here.”

“You still will,” Andi smiled. “You still don’t leave for college for another year, and you will always be coming back every summer break.”

“I guess you might be right,” Amber paused and bit her lip.

“Why _might_?”

“I’m thinking of doing a lot of summer school to finish school up early. Start working and helping TJ out with his school.”

“TJ is only a year younger than you, though.”

“Yeah, but I’m pretty sure my parents are going to be burnt out from spending on both of our college tuitions for three years in a row. I’m hoping TJ gets in with a basketball scholarship, honestly. That way, they only have to worry about my tuition.”

“I’d miss you a whole lot,” Andi told her, looking at the nail polish bottle when Amber’s eyes shot up. Amber was glad Andi’s sight was somewhere else, her red cheeks never being easy to hide.

“I’d miss you a lot too, Andi,” Amber replied quietly. She took a moment to regain her composure and start painting her other hand, “I don’t think I’m going that far away from Shadyside, though. I’ll probably just go to Midwest State. Their psychology program is also really good.”

“Isn’t your dream school out of state?” Andi raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” Amber sighed, cursing that Andi remembered such a glum detail, “but I don’t think I’ll get in.”

“You’re so smart, though,” Andi reminded her. “I’m sure you can get in anywhere you want.”

Amber gave her a small smile, “I wish it was that easy. I’m still going to apply, but I won’t keep my hopes up. I don’t plan to leave Midwest.”

“You don’t want to see other places?” Andi asked her, Amber trying not to mess up her nails.

“I got all I want right here.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OOF Very late update because college is taking over my life. Much shorter chapters than what I usually do, but I think I'm going to keep it this way :)

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, it's me again. I've been planning this for months, actually. I've had this chapter written for a bit, and I finally got around to posting it. I've always had a soft spot for Ambi, and I didn't want them to get together in TJ's Playlist so that they can get together in this story. Is that a spoiler? I don't know it might be. I do whatever I want at this point anyways.  
> I will confess, I don't know how updates for this story are going to look like, but I will take it seriously like I took TJP, and I just want to have fun writing it. I don't expect it to take off like TJP, but I hope that those of you that do read it, enjoy reading these two girls fall for each other.  
> Thank you for reading, old readers and new ones :D!


End file.
